We sent out our survey last year and sent T-shirts out last summer - but you only responded to the questions this April! We can get a T-shirt sent out to you; a book will be on its way later this year once we've published enough stories to compile into a "best of MATTER". I'll drop you a line later this week to check some details.

Hey Matter, one thing I'm confused about is that the Kickstarter campaign was upgraded so the $10 pledges got 5 stories instead of 3. But when logging into my Matter account it says I only have 2 more future stories for free. Is that a typo or something?

Another discrepancy is that the Matter membership page says everyone can vote on the editorial board. As a $10 pledge, I know I didn't get that, and according to my account page it says I'm not a real member (monthly paying one) yet. So that's fine and understandable, but how do I upgrade my free Kickstarter account to a monthly paying one? I'd like to become a member, and not have to worry about adding in my payment info months later. I can't find a place to do that.

Thanks Andrew, Jason — you're right, there are some things we need to explain better, and some extra options we could add to make sharing better and easier. But they're all on the todo list, so hopefully we can add them sooner rather than later.

Got my link today! Yeah!
Want to spread the word but want to direct people to your site rather than KS. You need to make sharing easier from your site so that we can promote you. In the meantime I'll cut and paste the URL.

I just wanted to let you know that I love the option of adding a Kindle email to my account. Fantastic idea! I would suggest though some more step-by-step directions for those non technical readers who may not be able to navigate the labyrinth of menus Amazon has to set that up. I've been very excited for Matter, I've always loved the long articles in the back of Wired, and have looked forward to Matter to expand that for me. I'll let you know what I think of the first article soon!

I see that you've launched, and I see various references on your site to Kickstarter backers automatically being members, but I don't have any memory of any message instructing me to set up an account. How do I get access?

If you've received the updates you'll know that we've been making progress, but we are also taking time to do it right so that we can produce something we think our backers would be proud of. Most people have been happy with that, but it's tough to please everyone.

The thing is that deep, extensive reporting isn't fast, and we wouldn't want to make our reporters rush -- in fact that's exactly the opposite of what we want to do. When you add on writing, editing, legal checks, and all the other tasks we have to produce a story, then there's a lot going of activity taking place right now to get the stories out. Yes, we underestimated how much time it would take to do what people expect of us, and we're sorry to not deliver as quickly as you want. But we also have a duty to get it right.

But still, we're now just weeks away from launch. I hope once you read the stories you'll understand why it's been important to take time getting these things right.

Hi Philipp, thanks for the comment. If you pledged $25 or more, you're automatically part of the board -- which is our way of letting everyone help shape some of the stories we'll publish. We'll be laying out the details once we start publishing, but perhaps we should put some details on the blog or in an update to help make things clear.
http://blog.readmatter.com

Congrats on the massive oversubscription, JIm! I remember when you first mentioned the project in stealth mode, and it's great to see it coming to life with such a strong start. Sourcebits is proud to be an early supporter of what we know will be an amazing publication, and we're looking forward to the launch and first issue!

As a former newspaper science journalist in the UK who got thoroughly hacked off having stories downgraded/dropped in favour of dreck, it's great to be able to support what you're doing. Am working mainly on academic projects now (medical statistics, among other things), but if you think I can help on any of your projects, get in touch. Good luck !

I have decided to back the project, when it was already founded twice over. I am interested the subjects that Matter promises to bring, fearless journalism on science, technology , research, environment etc. ...it probably won't get any better for me in terms of subjects. I am also interested in witnessing, how the project itself is conducted and developed. It is a crucial question today, what is the good model to bring quality information using the current communication tools and do it in depth with high level of professionalism, as well as a financially sustainable manner. After this good start, I expect, that this promising project has a bright prospect, and preferably, there will be a way to assure that it reaches as broad audience as possible. It's hard to find it out what works best for delivering this objective, with already too much information floating around. There are lot's of good resources, but also too many that is lacking structure or reliability. While I think, accessing good quality information could be and at times should be freely available to as broad readership as possible, I see the problem with production and dissemination of that information consistently without sufficient financing. I'm also looking forward to follow the experiment that the editorial board represent. I'm glad that my modest contribution allows some form of participation in this great project.

Moving forward, we have a say and I think these young men are willing to listen. Diversity will come about because we allow it to occur as a natural thing. I am a new voice. I want to be heard. It is up to me to make myself heard. I trust MATTER will evolve. Matter of fact, I will donate another small amount to accentuate my faith in that.

Matter of experience (skin, sex, religion, etc) are diversity of mind! I am putting in my modest amount to be on the editorial board because I have faith that you will execute that commitment. Diversity is an everyday activity. Pay attention to the VIDA count. This discrimination is REAL on many fronts. Matter shows need of improvement. I expect Matter to evolve. The next video will showcase women.

It's troubling to see a high-minded news project that cannot come up with a diverse cast of staffers right from the jump. Is diversity in the newsroom not the balance needed to produce good journalism? Frankly, I don't know why anyone wants to read 3000 words from the same group of literary elites we've been hearing from forever. The old guard needs to take a step back and let new voices be seen and heard.

For Good Measure -- agreed: we think that reader support is going to be a lot more important than sponsorship during our first year or so. And while we will be having some sponsorship on the site, we promise it won't get in the way of the reading experience.

As an alternative to conventional advertising, you could auction off sponsorships. Winners would receive the message "Sponsored by ________" or "Dedicated to ______" on the front page of the article and maybe one hyperlink. That's it. I imagine that the auction would take place perhaps 2-3 weeks before estimated publication date: both topic and author would be available.

Admittedly, permitting a link could create malware issues, especially if the domain is purchased by somebody nefarious down the road. And I suspect that you might want to rely solely on reader support at least for the first year or so.

Hi Matter
I'm not asking that it should be on every platform - if it's on the web we can all get to it which is the main thing. My real concern is that there's so little definition of what you're producing - with a hundred grand to spend you need a lot of planning and the people who are putting up the money deserve to see some evidence of this. Good intentions are necessary but not sufficient.

Fantastic idea. I'm looking forward to having a read. Hopefully this will be a good format to support journalism.
Are you going to have an ethics charter or balance guidlines for your writers? Alternativly you could have little bio next to articles to explain a writers background and any biases/political leanings.

Hi Bill. In an ideal world we'd be on all the platforms you mention. In the real world, even with the fantastic response we're getting, we'll have to prioritise. Web will be first. Apps next. And we're not planning a weekly print edition, but we will be publishing a print anthology.

Yeah, more female writers! And more dwarf writers! And what about the adolescent writers? And geriatric writers? Just remember it's more important to focus on the writer than on the topic! More quotas, that's what the web really needs...

To serious matters. How are you planning to publish this thing? I presume there won't be a paper edition? ipad only, or something for the Windows proles? How about an android edition? I know delivery is boring, but some people think being able to read what they've bought is important. What's the planned words vs pictures ratio? There's a dearth of good outlets for photo-journalism, or so the photo-journalists tell me (although there do seem to be a lot more photo-journalists these days, which is a bit odd).

And while I think about it, 'Matter' matters (so I'm told) so could you PLEASE sort out the kerning?

This looks absolutely brilliant, good on Bobbie and Jim for sticking your necks out!
I echo the comments about female writers, and I hope you keep the breadth of subject matter wide enough to keep surprising readers.
Also, your monochrome serif "M" really reminds me of Monocle magazine... I wonder if you need to be a bit careful about that?
Anyway, I can't wait for this to come to fruition - it sounds fantastic!

Good luck from all at the University of Central Lancashire's journalism department. It sounds like a great project and I'm happy to be a backer. I've given you a shout out here. http://www.facebook.com/uclanjournalism